The Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council is a proud contributor to the mission of Future Ready Iowa.
The Governor’s STEM Advisory Council (Iowa STEM) at the Iowa Department of Education produced the Iowa Classrooms+Workplaces Summit on April 10 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.
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If you are a teacher, you have probably wondered how your mathematics or science topics are used behind the walls of the manufacturing plant across town, or what kinds of roof-beam geometry and cement wall chemistry the construction crew uses to build that bridge up north or those new lofts downtown.
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With the help of January’s MVP for Iowa STEM, Rockwell Collins, an aerospace engineering company in Cedar Rapids, Cindy Dietz, its director of external relations, has used her expertise to send Iowa STEM soaring to new heights.
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Generation Z is type-cast as technology native—born with iPads in their cribs, raised with smartphones clutched in their grip, educated on digital global blackboards and bathed in WiFi waves connecting their cars, TVs and toasters. They’re accomplished consumers of technology. But how many could design an app, troubleshoot a software bug or critique the pros and cons of crowdsourcing?
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You might think it takes an Einstein-like mind to build a robot from scratch—or at least some years studying the craft. Yet, a program offered on the 2016-17 STEM Scale-Up Program menu is making it common for high school students to be the new, young minds behind these innovations. It’s called, “FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).”
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The room is eerily quiet. Students’ eyes are glued to their computers, geared up with headphones and a mouse to take on the challenge. Suddenly, a young girl’s hands go up in the air as she yells, “Yes! I did it!”
That’s the “Hour of Code.”
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Of 32 U.S. states where more than half of their graduates take the ACT, Iowa has the highest percentage of students meeting the STEM benchmark.
This great data point to help Iowa monitor student STEM interest would not exist if not for a great partnership with December’s MVP for Iowa STEM Steve Triplett.
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Two Iowa STEM programs just got a major boost thanks to grants totaling $250,000. The STEM Council’s premiere professional development experience for STEM teachers – six-week summer externships – has earned a major vote of confidence from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the form of more than $50,000 from their Resource Enhancement And Protection (REAP) grant competition.
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STEM learning often takes place beyond school classrooms. Other outstanding venues where kids learn STEM include museums, camping trips with their scout troop, at the zoo or on a 4-H outing and certainly among the book stacks at libraries.
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Around this same time in 2014, the STEM Council first welcomed the inaugural five STEM BEST® (Businesses Engaging Students and Teachers) Partners to the team.
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Connecting schools and businesses is one of the main goals of the STEM Council. Whether that business is a global manufacturer or a rural service supplier, the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships program unites the producers of talent (schools) with the employers of talent (business and industry) for mutual benefit.
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